Good morning. I’d like to offer a response to Eric Reynolds’ recent video on the doctrine of eternal generation. Eric raised this topic because our denomination will soon vote on whether to adopt a new Declaration of Principles. In the proposed declaration, article 3 states that Jesus the Son is “eternally begotten of the Father.” This wording comes from the church’s debate with Arianism and was formally expressed in the Nicene Creed of AD 325: “God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same essence as the Father.”
Eric urges Advent Christians to adopt this new Declaration of Principles because it makes clear where we stand in reference to the nature of Christ. It certainly does that. But I suggest that Eric went too far when he said, “You cannot be a Christian and reject the eternal begottenness of Jesus.”
First, many sincere Christians throughout the early centuries wrestled with how Scripture describes Jesus as the monogenēs of the Father (John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; 1 John 4:9). The Nicene theologians did not settle on their formulation immediately; their conclusions emerged only after generations of debate and reflection, eventually taking shape centuries later.
Secondly, the New Testament never uses the adjective “eternal” (αἰώνιος) to describe:
Christ as monogenēs, or
Christ’s generation/procession from the Father.
The NT simply does not pair aiōnios with monogenēs, nor with any verb of begetting, sending, or proceeding.
In other words, the Bible does not specifically teach eternal generation. It may be true, but Advent Christians have historically been wary of accepting theological constructions just because other Christians believe them to be true.
Thirdly, it was no surprise to me that, almost immediately after the proposed 2026 Declaration of Principles was published, people from many different perspectives began questioning its language. In several areas, the new proposal uses theological terms with a precision unfamiliar to many Advent Christians, while in other areas it introduces ambiguity where our current Declaration has traditionally been quite clear.
Over the past several weeks, I’ve received many emails and phone calls, and I’ve sat down with people from various backgrounds—all of whom share serious concerns about the proposed changes. Because of these conversations, I am persuaded that 2026 is not the year for our denomination to alter its guiding principles. If you are a delegate at the August triennial convention, please vote NO on the proposed revision to the Declaration of Principles. And if your church is sending delegates, please ask them to vote NO as well.
1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; 2 While the sun, or the light, or the moon, or the stars, be not darkened, nor the clouds return after the rain: 3 In the day when the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall bow themselves, and the grinders cease because they are few, and those that look out of the windows be darkened, 4 And the doors shall be shut in the streets, when the sound of the grinding is low, and he shall rise at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of musick shall be brought low; 5 Also when they shall be afraid of that which is high, and fears shall be in the way, and the almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden, and desire shall fail: because man goeth to his long home, and the mourners go about the streets.
Growing older is a strange experience.
One day you’re young and energetic, and the next day you make a noise when you stand up— a noise you didn’t practice, a noise you didn’t choose, a noise that happens because your joints have decided to speak in tongues.
But aging is not a punishment. It’s a privilege. It’s a long, winding testimony of God’s patience, provision, and sense of humor.
And if we’re wise, we learn to laugh along the way.
Solomon’s final chapter in Ecclesiastes gives us a blunt, unvarnished look at the so‑called “golden years.” He doesn’t soften the reality of aging with polite euphemisms or sentimental language. Instead, he offers a painfully accurate allegory—one only an older man could write. Every image, every metaphor, every fading sense and trembling limb reflects a stage of decline Solomon now knows firsthand. He doesn’t call them the golden years. He calls them the evil days.
This is Ancient Near Eastern humor. Solomon walks us through the slow unraveling of the body: the dimming eyes, the shaking hands, the failing teeth, the stooped back, the sleepless nights, the shrinking appetite, the fear of falling, the loss of desire. It is a house slowly collapsing, a once‑strong structure now creaking under the weight of time. Solomon is not mocking old age; he is describing his own.
Solomon’s honesty is not meant to depress us but to awaken us. He wants the young to understand what he did not: life is precious because it is temporary. Enjoy it while you have it. Honor God while your strength is still intact. Live fully, gratefully, and wisely before the days come when desire fades and opportunities close.
Old age is not a failure; it is a reminder.
A reminder that we are creatures, not gods.
A reminder that our days are numbered.
A reminder that the One who gave us life is the only One who can give it again.
Solomon’s final chapter is not just a description of aging—it is an invitation to live well now, while the light still shines.
Solomon contrasts the fading years of old age with the bright, energetic prime of life—when everything works, everything is clear, and everything feels possible. He has lived those years. He was a sprite young prince, courting a beautiful young shepherd girl. We have that story in the Bible, too. It’s Solomon’s song. We also have a book Solomon wrote in his middle years. It’s his magnum opus, his collection of proverbs. But this book of Ecclesiastes is Solomon’s last. It’s his final reflection.
In it, he teaches us that when we’re young, our eyes look out their windows and see the world in sharp detail. But as the years pass, the days grow dimmer. The world doesn’t change, but our ability to take it in does.
Our bladders become like rain clouds that fill up again almost as soon as they empty.
Our once‑strong legs—the guardians of our bodies, the pillars of our houses—turn soft and unsteady.
Our teeth become few and idle, no longer grinding our food with youthful strength.
Our doors of opportunity close; we no longer venture far from home.
We miss the sound of business and busyness, the hum of life we once took for granted.
We wake at the slightest chirp of a bird, yet we don’t hear nearly as much as we used to.
It is a portrait, both honest and compassionate. Solomon is not mocking old age; he is describing the slow unraveling of a body that was never designed to be immortal in its present form.
And that is his point. Life is short—don’t waste it. We shouldenjoy it fully, especially while we are young and able to savor its gifts. But as we enjoy the gift, we should remember the Giver. The Creator who gave us life is the One who will remain when everything else fades. Our relationship with Him is the one joy that does not diminish with age.
We do not possess endless life in ourselves. Our strength, our senses, our opportunities—all of them are temporary. We live because God gives life, and we will live again only because God gives life again.
So Solomon urges us to use our time wisely.
Don’t squander our prime years.
Don’t drift through life as if our days are unlimited.
Enjoy the world God made, but anchor our joy in the God who made us.
Not only is it appropriate for us to remember our creator in the days of our youth. It is also quite proper for us to remember God when we cannot seem to remember anything else.
Remember God when you can’t remember where you put your glasses, your phone, where you left your keys, or where you parked your car.
Remember God when you can’t remember why you walked into the kitchen, or why you opened the refrigerator.
Remember God when you can’t remember that you already told that story… twice.
Remember God when you cannot remember the name of that person you have known for 20 years, and the one you just met 20 seconds ago.
Remember God when you cannot remember that birthday, that anniversary, that doctor’s appointment, or what day it is.
Remember God when you cannot remember whether you have taken that pill or taken out the garbage.
And don’t get me started on punchlines to jokes, or travel directions, whether you locked the front door, or how to turn off notifications that won’t stop dinging. We are now living in the evil days when everything slips away. But the LORD is the One who remains—and the One who can give life that truly lasts.
Let’s pray:
LORD, thank you for life. Thank you for the air we breathe and the lives you have given us to live. Thank you that no matter where we are, you are there. Thank you also for no matter what point we are in our lives, you are with us and for us. Praise your holy name. Amen.
Joshua 8:1 Yahveh said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid or discouraged. Take all the troops with you and attack Ai. Notice, I have handed over to you the king of Ai, his people, city, and land.
Joshua 8:2 Treat Ai and its king as you did Jericho and its king, except that you may plunder its spoil and livestock for yourselves. Set an ambush behind the city.”
Joshua 8:3 So Joshua and all the troops set out to attack Ai. Joshua selected thirty thousand of his most capable soldiers and sent them out at night.
Joshua 8:4 He commanded them: “Pay attention. Lie in ambush behind the city, not too far from it, and all of you be ready.
Joshua 8:5 Then I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. When they come out against us as they did the first time, we will run from them.
Joshua 8:6 They will come after us until we have drawn them away from the city because they will say, ‘They are running from us like before.’ While we are running from them,
Joshua 8:7 you are to come out of your ambush and seize the city. Yahveh, your God will hand it over to you.
Joshua 8:8 After taking the city, set it on fire. Follow Yahveh’s command – see that you do as I have ordered you.”
Joshua 8:9 So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.
Joshua 8:10 Joshua started early the next morning and mobilized them. Then, he and the elders of Israel led the troops up to Ai.
Joshua 8:11 All those with him went up and approached the city, arriving opposite Ai, and camped to the north of it, with a valley between them and the city.
Joshua 8:12 Now Joshua had taken about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
Joshua 8:13 The troops were positioned as follows: the main camp to the north of the city and its rear guard to the west of the town. That night, Joshua went into the valley.
Joshua 8:14 When the king of Ai saw the Israelites, the men of the city hurried and went out early in the morning so that he and all his people could engage Israel in battle at a suitable place facing the Arabah. But he did not know there was an ambush waiting for him behind the city.
Joshua 8:15 Joshua and all of Israel pretended to be beaten back by them and ran toward the wilderness.
Joshua 8:16 Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
Joshua 8:17 Not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel, leaving the city exposed while they pursued Israel.
Joshua 8:18 Then Yahveh said to Joshua, “Hold out the javelin in your hand toward Ai because I will hand the city over to you.” So Joshua held out his javelin toward it.
Joshua 8:19 When he held out his hand, the men in the ambush rose quickly from their position. They ran, entered the city, captured it, and immediately set it on fire.
Joshua 8:20 The men of Ai turned and looked back, and smoke from the city was rising to the sky! They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.
Joshua 8:21 When Joshua and all Israel saw that the men in ambush had captured the city and that smoke was rising from it, they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.
Joshua 8:22 Then men in ambush came out of the city against them, and the men of Ai were trapped between the Israelite forces, some on one side and some on the other. They struck them down until no survivor or fugitive remained,
Joshua 8:23 but they captured the king of Ai alive and brought him to Joshua.
Joshua 8:24 When Israel had finished killing everyone living in Ai who had pursued them into the open country, and when every last one of them had fallen by the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the sword.
Joshua 8:25 The total of those who fell that day, both men and women, was twelve thousand – all the people of Ai.
Joshua 8:26 Joshua drew back his hand that was holding the javelin when all the inhabitants of Ai were set apart for destruction.
Joshua 8:27 Israel plundered only the cattle and spoil of that city for themselves, according to Yahveh’s command that he had given Joshua.
Joshua 8:28 Joshua burned Ai and left it a permanent mound of ruins, still a sinister desolation today.
Joshua 8:29 He hung the body of the king of Ai on a tree until evening, and at sunset, Joshua commanded that they take his body down from the tree. They threw it down at the entrance of the city gate and put a large pile of rocks over it, which remains today.
Joshua 8:30 At that time, Joshua built an altar on Mount Ebal to Yahveh, the God of Israel,
Joshua 8:31 just like Moses Yahveh’s slave had commanded the Israelites. He built it according to what is written in the book of the law of Moses: an altar of uncut stones on which no iron tool has been used. Then, they offered burnt offerings to Yahveh and sacrificed fellowship offerings on it.
Joshua 8:32 There on the stones, Joshua copied the law of Moses, which he had written in the presence of the Israelites.
Joshua 8:33 All Israel – resident alien and citizen alike – with their elders, officers, and judges, stood on either side of the ark of Yahveh’s covenant facing the Levitical priests who carried it. Half of them were in front of Mount Gerizim and half in front of Mount Ebal, as Moses Yahveh’s slave had commanded earlier concerning blessing the people of Israel.
Joshua 8:34 Afterward, Joshua read aloud all the words of instruction—the blessings as well as the curses—according to what was written in the book of instruction.
Joshua 8:35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded that Joshua did not read before the entire assembly of Israel, including the women, the dependents, and the resident aliens who lived among them.
10 Joy and happiness disappear from the orchards, and in the vineyards no one rejoices or shouts; no one treads out juice in the wine vats — I have brought the joyful shouts to an end. 11 So my heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp, my inner being sighs for Kir Hareseth. 12 When the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places, and enter their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective!
When we studied the poetry of the Bible, such as the Psalms, we primarily examined words coming from humans directed toward or about God. But now we’re looking at a different genre. We are focusing on literature that is mostly directly from God through a human prophet. It’s important to understand that the direction differs in prophecy. Prophecy involves words from God through the prophet, whereas poetry involves words from humans about God or to God.
All of these words in the Bible come directly from God, the Holy Spirit, in that He inspired them. He inspired poets to say what was needed for the songs to be written. In the Old Testament’s prophecy section, we see words from God the Holy Spirit as a testimony from God Himself. Today, we often use the word prophecy to refer to predictions. Some of these are found in the Old Testament prophets. For example, messianic prophecies throughout the Bible predict the coming Messiah; many were fulfilled at Jesus’ first advent when He was born. Others were fulfilled during His earthly ministry, and some are yet to be fulfilled at His second coming. The second coming is a primary focus of Old Testament prophecy. While many messianic prophecies appear in the Old Testament prophets, most prophecies focus on the Day of the Lord, which is the second advent.
But the prophets spoke directly from God to the people, culture, and time in which they lived. That explains why we have passages like today’s text, which speaks directly to the nation of Moab and is a prophecy from God to that nation. Although Israel was God’s chosen people to bring about redemption for all humanity, that does not mean Israel was God’s only concern. Even in the Old Testament, we see reflections of a God who is the God of all nations and cares about them all. Today’s text reflects that because it is about a nation other than Israel.
You might remember that Moab, as a nation, consisted of people who were relatives of the Israelites. Moab came from Lot, Abraham’s nephew. Both the Moabites and the Ammonites are descendants of Lot. You might recall that Lot’s daughters got their father drunk and slept with him. They both became pregnant and gave birth to the ancestors of those two nations. The names of these nations reflect this fact. The name Ammon means “my people,” and the name Moab means “from the father.” Moab was the ancestor of the Moabites to whom God speaks in today’s text.
Even if we only consider the three verses from today’s passage, we can still learn something about Moab as a nation. We find that they are a nation of vineyard owners and orchard keepers. Evidently, the land they possess is well-suited for fruit trees and vineyards. They also appear to derive great pleasure and joy from this way of life.
Another thing we learn from today’s passage about the Moabites is that they are very religious. They don’t worship at the temple in Jerusalem, but they have their own temples and high places where they pray and make sacrifices. They didn’t follow in Abraham’s footsteps; they have their own religion. However, we see from today’s text that they are very dedicated to practicing it. But we also learn from today’s passage in Isaiah that their devotion to their religion will not influence God. Isaiah declares judgment upon Moab.
The Lord will end the joy of the heathen.
Isaiah says that joy and happiness will disappear from the orchards. He explains that in the vineyards, no one will be rejoicing or shouting. The reason is that the labor that brings about joy will come to an end. No one will be treading out juice in the wine vats. Isaiah, speaking for God, says that God has brought the joyful shout to an end.
It’s essential to examine a passage like this, especially in today’s season. Christians around the world during this Advent season are talking about joy from the Lord. We have every right to speak about joy from the Lord. But we must remember that the joy that comes from the Lord is a joy for those whom the Lord is pleased with. Just as the peace that God promised when He sent Jesus into the world, the joy He promises is also explicitly directed toward those who will accept Christ. The joy entering the world only comes to those who receive Jesus Christ as King. This is the message of the Old and New Testaments.
The prophecy Isaiah shares in today’s passage concerns the destruction of Moab as a nation. There is no Moab today, so that prophecy has been fulfilled. However, there’s more to this passage than just the prediction and its fulfillment. God gave us that message not only because of the Moabites, but because what happened to them will happen to all the heathen nations that haven’t accepted Christ. He will take away the joy from those nations and remove all who claim to have a relationship with God but have not come to His Son and accepted Him as their King.
Last Sunday night, we watched a movie during the evening service. The film showed a tribe living in the jungle that had not yet learned about Jesus. Some of you have talked to me afterward and said that the movie really shook you up. You couldn’t understand how people could live like that. It’s important to remember that there are still people in the world living without Christ and without hope. They are living in darkness and have not yet experienced the light of Christ.
We are still living in an age where our primary focus should be on reaching the lost. There are not only many individuals who need salvation, but also thousands of people groups who have never heard the name of Christ. Some of these might be experiencing temporary joy in their current lives, but as the Moabites did, that joy will be short-lived and ultimately disrupted by the judgment of Almighty God. We must have compassion for these people and strive to get the gospel to them. If the only way to reach them is by sending our sons and daughters, that is what we must do.
The reality of God’s judgment upon the nations remains unchanged. The heathen are still lost regardless of what happens to us. They need to hear the word of God and to listen to it from the Church of God. Yes, God loves them, but He also hates their sin. Just as God pronounced judgment upon Moab, many people groups around the world are facing God’s judgment.
The Lord has no joy in doing this.
Isaiah, speaking for God in today’s passage, says that His heart constantly sighs for Moab, like the strumming of a harp. His inner being sighs for Kir Harosheth, one of the Moabite cities. Isaiah opens a window into God’s mind, revealing His heart. He shows a God whose heart is breaking because He must destroy the wicked. You see, God is a God of justice. When something is wrong, He must correct it. As the ruler of this universe, He is responsible for fixing mistakes. But God is also compassionate. He does not want to destroy the lost. He is not willing that anyone should perish, but He desires all to come to repentance. However, He has set a date for judging the great and the small. When that day arrives, there will be no more time for mercy. When the trumpet sounds and time ends, those who are lost will be forever lost.
Why does God tell us that he has no joy in destroying Moab? Specifically, why is this statement included in the Israelite scriptures? Why does God speak this through the mouth of an Israelite prophet? There must be a reason this is relevant to the children of Israel. It reveals the heart of their God. It shows that their God is not a respecter of persons. He loves the children of Israel, but also loves the children of Moab. He loves the followers of the Christian Bible, but also cares for those who follow other Bibles and have not yet seen the truth in his holy word. God’s heart extends beyond just those who consider themselves his. His heart cries out for us to reach those who don’t see themselves as his. He takes no joy in their destruction—he took no joy in the destruction of Moab. He takes no pleasure in the destruction of those who rebel against his truth. He considers them his children, even if they are prodigal children. He eagerly waits for the day when the prodigal son will come to himself and return home.
There is only one Way to the Lord.
There is a heretical teaching that continues to spread among Christian circles. This false teaching reflects everyone’s desire to be saved. Some say that as long as you are sincere in your belief, it doesn’t matter what that belief is. But we don’t see that idea in today’s passage. Isaiah says that when the Moabites plead with all their might at their high places and go into their temples to pray, their prayers will be ineffective. Isaiah shows that these Moabites are sincere in their belief and eager for God to save them, but they are going about it the wrong way.
The New Testament gospel communicates the same message. Jesus states that he is “the way, the truth, and the life,” and that no one comes to the Father except through him. Many of us struggle with this truth because we know there are many nations, many religions, and many ways people try to reach God. All around us, we hear people saying there are many ways to God. However, when they do so, they are not reflecting the Christian gospel. Today’s text reminds us that you can be sincerely seeking God and still not reach him. God has given us only one way of salvation: through the Lord Jesus Christ. That means many prayers will not be answered because they have not come through Jesus.
The joy we talk about at Christmas is a joy found only in Jesus Christ. The good news of the gospel is good news of great joy. However, the gospel is conditional, with Jesus Christ as the condition. This means that when Jesus comes, there will be joy in the world, but it will not reach everyone. As seen in other prophecies in the Old Testament, the coming of Christ will bring great fear and sorrow to those who have not accepted Him. That is why, when we proclaim the Christian joy of Christ’s coming, we must make it clear that the joy we speak of will only belong to those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Furthermore, the joy we speak of when we sing “Joy to the World” is a joy only experienced when our Lord returns. The joy we feel now is terrific, but it is only a preview of an even greater joy. The joy of Christ coming as a baby in Bethlehem was marvelous, but it was just the beginning. It was a joy for those who welcomed Christ into their hearts. It was a joy for Mary and Joseph. It was a joy for the shepherds. It was a joy for the wise men. It was a joy for Simeon and Anna.
The Advent season is a time for you and me to ask ourselves if we have room in our hearts for Jesus Christ. The joy of Christmas is ours if we can answer that question in the affirmative. Likewise, the joy of the second Advent is ours if we have found room in our hearts for Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Otherwise, like the Moabites, we will see that all we will eventually experience is loss, and even if we are sincere in our prayers, those prayers will never reach God. Even worse, when our Lord does come in his glory with all his angels, he will greet us not as our Lord and Savior but as our Judge.
If you want joy, absolute joy, incredible joy, let Jesus into your heart.
1 Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD from the sky! Praise him in the heavens! 2 Praise him, all his angels! Praise him, all his heavenly assembly! 3 Praise him, O sun and moon! Praise him, all you shiny stars! 4 Praise him, O highest heaven, and you waters above the sky! 5 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for he gave the command and they came into existence. 6 He established them so they would endure; he issued a decree that will not be revoked. 7 Praise the LORD from the earth, you sea creatures and all you ocean depths, 8 O fire and hail, snow and clouds, O stormy wind that carries out his orders, 9 you mountains and all you hills, you fruit trees and all you cedars, 10 you animals and all you cattle, you creeping things and birds, 11 you kings of the earth and all you nations, you princes and all you leaders on the earth, 12 you young men and young women, you elderly, along with you children! 13 Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty extends over the earth and sky. 14 He has made his people victorious, and given all his loyal followers reason to praise — the Israelites, the people who are close to him. Praise the LORD!
We are now into our eleventh month of reading through the Scriptures, two chapters a day. So far, we have encountered four main types of literature. We have read about the history of God’s people starting in Genesis and continuing through the historical books, ending with Esther. Along the way, we have read some of God’s instructions for his people. The LORD has taught his people how to live rightly and how to worship appropriately. In Job, we got a glimpse of another type of biblical writing: wisdom literature. Now that we are nearly finished with the Psalms, we have sampled the poetry of the Old Testament.
The author of Hebrews wrote that God spoke long ago “in various portions and in various ways” (Hebrews 1:1). We should not be surprised that he did so. We learn different things through different teaching methods.
Some things are best learned through experience, but that doesn’t mean we have to have the experience. We can learn from other people’s experiences. That is what history is for. We should not all have to experience loss to know that loss is painful. The lessons of the past are there to help us in the future. Learning history is not like doing an autopsy, where all you can do is discover why the death happened. Learning history teaches us how to live today, without making the mistakes of the past. It helps us make wise choices. We imitate the best options and avoid the worst choices.
However, God has not given us a mere history book in the Bible. He has also taught us principles to help us live right and doctrines to help us think right. He has taught his people how to live rightly and how to worship appropriately. He has done this in the instructional and wisdom literature portions of the books we have read so far.
Some of you have struggled with what we have been reading for the past seventy-four days. Like me, you don’t read a lot of poetry, so it is hard to figure out what is being said and why. But I hope we all have learned to appreciate the creative way the biblical poets have communicated God’s truth. Like songs, poetry is designed to help us feel what we are learning. Poems make it easier to remember the things that we are being taught.
The Hebrew poetry of the Old Testament used repetition. It said the same thing in two or three different ways to ensure that the message sinks in. It painted pictures with words to give its readers images in their minds. It took some of those same historical stories taught in earlier passages of the Bible and poetically restated them. So, we relived the crossing of the Red Sea and the conquest of Canaan through the words of the psalmist.
It took some of the same doctrines taught in the Torah and expressed them using word pictures to help us apply them to our own lives. It taught us not the mere fact that God is everywhere. It expressed that truth by talking about the feeling of having nowhere to hide from the presence of God’s Spirit.
It took some of the wisdom literature and enabled us to understand not just the fact that we should live right, but the reasons we should. It taught us that living according to God’s truth would make us like a well-watered tree that never stops producing fruit.
The poetry in the Psalms has a variety of styles. We have listened to the psalmists complain, train, and explain. We have read the Psalms of Lament and the Psalms of Ascent. Many of the Psalms in this final book (107-150) are songs of praise. They are designed to incite believers to worship and praise God for who He is and what he has done. That is what today’s Psalm is doing. Psalm 148 focuses on the majesty of Almighty God.
The LORD’s MAJESTY extends from the sky (1-6).
The poet encourages his readers to go out and look up into the sky. He is encouraging praise from God’s people, but he is not saying that if they go out and look hard enough at the sky, then they will see God. No, notice that the phrase is “Praise the LORD from the sky!” Here is what the psalmist is doing. He is telling us that a praise concert is going on right now, and it is going on in the sky and in the heavenly assembly.
Who is praising God? All God’s angels are praising him. The sun and moon are praising him. The shiny stars are praising him. The waters above the sky are praising him.
Why is this concert going on in the sky and in heaven? Because he gave the command, and they came into existence. He established them so they would endure; he issued a decree that will not be revoked.
In Genesis 1, we read that God created this expanse, which he called the “sky.” But it was empty, so he filled up all the empty spots with lights, planets, suns, moons, and flying creatures. We read elsewhere that the highest heaven is filled with angelic beings who serve the Lord and minister in his name. What we are seeing here is a picture of all these created things and created beings breaking out in song and praising their creator.
This dark world in which we live often forgets to praise God. But if we could only look up and realize that praising God is not an unnatural thing that only the intensely religious fanatics do. Praise is the regular, ordinary, typical activity of the sky and its inhabitants.
Worship is going on in the sky right now. Praise is regular for the sky beings because they recognize that their creator is worthy of that praise. The majesty of our LORD extends from the sky. His throne is there, so it is understandable that he is exalted there.
Now, the poet who wrote this Psalm is telling us that we, creatures of the land, are lagging. The LORD is our creator as well, and we should join in the celebration that began out in the sky.
The LORD’s MAJESTY extends from the land (7-14).
The poet introduces a new praise celebration. Its choir consists of the sea creatures, fire, hail, snow, clouds, storm wind, mountains, hills, trees, animals, kings and princes, young men and women, older people, and children. Everything and every person on this planet should join in the praise for the LORD.
The same creator who made an empty sky and then filled it with wonders also created an empty land and filled it with amazing things and wonderful beings. The psalmist urges all of us who are part of that creation to praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty extends over the earth and sky.
The poet includes a final line in his writing, aimed at the people of Israel. His purpose is to add just one more thought. He reminds the Israelites that they have all the more reason to praise God, because they are the people who are close to him. Other nations hear about God’s miracles, but the Israelites have experienced those miracles. They of all people should be leading the praise celebration.
But this Psalm is for us as well. Each of us can look up and see a sky full of reasons to praise our creator. Each of us can look around at the fantastic world we were born into and find a reason to be grateful to its maker. But we must also ask the question of personal application:
Does the LORD’s MAJESTY extend to your life?
God lovingly created you, but he did not go on vacation afterward. He stayed around and taught you a few things. But he was not satisfied with even that. He saw you at your worst—after sin had turned you into someone repulsive and degenerate. He could have turned his back on you and abandoned you to the repercussions you deserved. But our great God decided to redeem you.
He sent his only Son, unspoiled, untouched by sin himself. God sacrificed the life of his Son to pay the debt that you owed. Through the shed blood of Christ, you had access to the miracle of the ages – forgiveness. God, your creator, became God, your redeemer. He decided to extend his majesty to bless you in your lowliness and lift you into his greatness.
But our heavenly Father is a perfect gentleman. He will not force forgiveness on anyone who does not ask for it, and He will withhold His blessing from anyone who refuses to approach His throne in repentance. The ground is level at the foot of the cross. We all need Christ’s atoning work, but the time to come to Him and request it is drawing to a close.
That is why my final point for today’s sermon is a question. I cannot answer the question for you. God is a God of glory whose majesty extends over the earth and sky. He is also a God of grace who has made forgiveness possible for whoever asks for it. But the sand in the hourglass is running out. The tickets to the great party in eternity are getting scarce.
Does the LORD’s Majesty extend to your life? It can. All that God has in store for you is available. You only have to come to him once. He is near, right now, even at the door. Will you open that door today?
jeffersonvann 